Baptists and other evangelicals may have a tough time supporting him due to the circumstances of his second divorce/third marriage.

“I mean, this is divorce on steroids,” Land said. “To publicly humiliate your wife in that way, and your children. That's rough. I think that's going to be an awfully hard sell, even if he weren't pro-choice and pro-gun control.”

Americans like New York City, as officials in both parties are quick to say. Most find it vibrant, entertaining and an object of sympathy and pride since the terrorist attacks five and a half years ago that made Mr. Giuliani the national contender he is today.

But the city, with all its tumult and rough edges, is not for everyone. And few people embody all the complicated facets of New York City as much as Mr. Giuliani.

He is swaggering, brash and opinionated and loves to stick his thumb in the eye of conventional political norms. Those traits won him some acclaim in New York, not to mention a lot of tabloid headlines. But he can also be temperamental, controlling, capricious, volatile and, in the words of Edward I. Koch, a former Democratic mayor who supported Mr. Giuliani in his successful bid for a second term, “mean-spirited.”

In an article on the supposed troubles of John McCain, the Wall Street Journal notes hints that Rudy's support may ebb:

The senator's top political strategist, John Weaver, calls himself "quite serene" about the campaign's predicament, reflecting the McCain team's judgment that the Giuliani boomlet will fade. The Journal/NBC poll itself suggests that may well happen, as voters learn more about the New Yorker.